Grumpy Best Friend

“You don’t understand,” Bret said, looking back at me, and I hated that patronizing stare. “This man’s dangerous. Maybe he doesn’t kill you, but maybe he does something worse.”

“Like what?” I asked.

He spread his hands apart. “I don’t know, he’s the gangster, not me.”

“I think you’ve seen too many movies,” I said, and joined him at the window. Down below, a small, black car parked, and two men stepped out. I thought the one might be Zeke, but I couldn’t be sure. They disappeared toward the building, and I felt a spike of fear and anticipation run through me.

“You heard Lady Fluke,” Bret said, coming closer to me. I stared up at him and saw the boy I’d been friends with so long ago, saw all the concern in his eyes, and for one second felt like I did back then, like he actually cared about me and wanted to keep me safe—

And then I pushed that feeling away, because that boy was dead and buried.

“I heard her say we should keep moving forward,” I said, “and we need to know what Zeke wants if we’re going to do that. I think we can clear this up now, or at least we can try.”

Bret shook his head, like I was some dumb little girl, and I felt another pang of anger. I hated that he was here right now and a part of this, and wished he’d leave me alone to figure it out. Maybe that was reckless, and I didn’t care. This was my project, and I wanted complete control.

The door pushed open, and I turned away from Bret, walking quickly over to the waiting room lobby. “Hello?” Zeke called out, and came down the short hallway, and stepped into the main office area, standing at the other side of the conference room table.

He wore a similar suit, though without the pinstripes. His hair was pushed back, and a man came in behind him, bigger and broader, with a shaved head and a mean, pissed-off stare. He wore a track suit, black with a white stripe down the side, and kept his hands folded behind him.

“Thank you for coming,” I said, and strode toward Zeke with my hand extended.

Zeke flashed me a smile and shook. “Thank you for inviting me,” he said. “Frankly, I thought I’d never hear from you again.”

“Well, you thought wrong.” I beamed and Bret came over, though he seemed more reluctant. He was bigger than Zeke, with broader shoulders, but the bald guy was almost half a head taller than him.

“Good to see you again,” Zeke said, and they shook. “This is my associate and my bodyguard, Jakub.”

Jakub grunted like a bear.

“Come, let’s sit,” I said, gesturing to the table.

“Nice place you have here,” Zeke said as we got settled. I pulled out a chair next to Bret, and Zeke sat across from us. Jakub remained standing, which was more than a little disconcerting, but he glowered down at us like an ancient and very angry tree.

“We only just signed the lease,” I said, gesturing around. “It’s pretty empty right now, but we’ll fill it up in no time.”

“I’m sure you will,” Zeke said, leaning back in his chair to study me. He had sharp eyes and a little smile on his lips at all times, like he knew a secret and he was willing to share—for a small price, of course. I got the feeling that I didn’t want to be in his debt, that he was the sort of man to string a friend along for twenty bucks forever.

“We spoke with Lady Fluke,” Bret said, sounding less than polite. Zeke didn’t seem to notice, and if he did, he certainly didn’t mind. “She had nothing but nice things to say.”

Zeke laughed at that, tossing his head back to guffaw at the ceiling. “Come on now, Lady despises me. I can’t blame her. We were young and stupid, and god knows I made lots of mistakes in that marriage.”

“Your personal life is none of our business,” I said, trying to be diplomatic.

But unfortunately, Bret had no interest in diplomacy. “She said you lied to her,” he said. “That your whole relationship was founded on half-truths and falsehoods. And now you’ve come here, peddling more bullshit. Tell me why we should pay any attention to you, Zeke, instead of just throwing you and your bald monster truck out on your asses and moving on with our lives?”

I stared at Bret, completely taken aback. This wasn’t what we’d discussed. I told him I wanted to be polite and calm and rational, to find out what Zeke wanted and what he thought he had over us, then decide from there. Instead, Bret threw a haymaker out of nowhere.

Zeke’s smile slowly faded. Jakub bristled a bit, though otherwise didn’t seem to mind being called a monster truck, which was a fairly accurate description, all things considered.